Taxation Commissioner assures trade bodies of clearing pending GST refunds

The Punjab Excise and Taxation Commissioner (ETC), Jitendra Jorwal, has assured the Punjab Tax Bar Association that the pending GST refunds will be cleared in the coming days, following which the Tax Bar Association has decided to withdraw its protest call for December 12.

Talking to The Tribune, Jorwal said that refunds to the tune of around Rs 680 crore had already been cleared this fiscal. “We had a meeting with association members today, and it was informed that in December, the department concerned has already cleared refunds amounting to Rs 120 crore and in the days to come, GST refunds of about Rs 350 crore more will be cleared. We are holding only those cases which need scrutiny. The backlog will be cleared as soon as the documents are verified,” the ETC said.

A meeting was held today between the office-bearers of the Punjab Tax Bar Association (PTBA) and various trade organisations, under the leadership of Anil Sarin, president, Punjab Tax Bar Association, and Jorwal in Chandigarh to discuss the long-pending GST and VAT refund issue affecting trade bodies and tax professionals across Punjab.

During the meeting, representatives of the trade bodies detailed the serious problems arising due to delayed refunds and the pendency of files. The delegation strongly emphasised the need for time-bound disposal of all pending refund cases.

Sarin stated that the Taxation Commissioner assured the delegation that all pending GST and VAT refund cases and files up to September would be cleared in the coming days.

Sarin said that, on the basis of this assurance, the Punjab Tax Bar Association and trade organisations had withdrawn their protest call scheduled for December 12, which was to be held outside district taxation offices across the state. He added that the associations expected the government to honour its commitments and ensure that traders and tax professionals did not face any further harassment.

Jatinder Mittal, Chairman, United Cycle Parts; Bobby Jindal, General Secretary, Punjab Dyers Association (PDA); advocates Rupinder Kansal, Arun Kanwal, Sunil Sharma, Rakesh Cajla, Manmanohar Gupta, Saket Garg, Lalit Mohan Gupta, Ram Bansal and Manoj Bajaj were also present at the meeting.